Movie review: The song-filled ‘Rocketman’ shoots for the stars and beyond

Ed Symkus More Content Now

Monday

May 27, 2019 at 2:01 AM

My two favorite things about Elton John: The live and very funky version of “Take Me to the Pilot” on the album “17-11-70” and the duet of “Benny and the Jets” he did with Cher on “The Cher Show” in 1975. (Both can be found on YouTube.)

This newest of classic rock biographies will inevitably and understandably be compared to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but take this as either a warning or a piece of good news: “Rocketman,” a deeper and richer film, doesn’t give its subject a whitewashing or try to clean up any of the naughty bits about the flamboyant Elton John. It kicks off with a fully and outrageously costumed Elton (Taron Egerton) showing up at a support group, ready to talk about his problems with alcohol, cocaine, sex, bulimia, shopping and more.

“What were you like as a child, Elton?” asks the group leader.

He answers by launching into the song “The Bitch Is Back” (lyric: “I was justified when I was 5”) and the film shifts to its first flashy flashback, showing 5-year-old Elton - then still called Reggie Dwight - in a less-than-happy home environment surrounded by his unpleasant mom (an unrecognizable Bryce Dallas Howard), his nasty dad (Steven Mackintosh) and his sympathetic grandma (Gemma Jones). It’s a troubling time for young Reggie, but he’s drawn to the family piano, he’s a natural player, and it’s where he finds escape and solace.

From there, the film gets to jumping between adult Elton in the group session, telling his story, and back in time to the stories he’s telling. There’s lowkey drama in the brief group scenes, where Elton at first pretends to be a relatively contented man, but is soon shown to be the unhappiest of fellows as layers of bad memories are revealed, then acted out in those flashbacks.

But this is far from a morbid movie. It’s a jukebox musical, meaning that’s it’s brimming with song after singalongable song from the vast Elton John catalog. (He’s had 30 Top 20 hits on the Billboard charts, six of those landing at No. 1), and they’re used, to some extent here, to help tell the story he’s telling. One of the best of these sequences is of the whole troubled Dwight family singing separate parts of “I Want Love” (lyric: “I want love on my own terms.”)

The script has Elton finding early local success at playing piano, and at having a knack for coming up with tunes, but not having the chops to come up with lyrics ... which is remedied when he’s matched up with the lyricist Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) when they were both in their 20’s (The two men still collaborate today.).

Egerton, best known for his role as Eggsy in the “Kingsman” movies, vanishes into the role, fearlessly showing every warts-and-all side of the pop star, from his egotistical persona to his drug dependency to his homosexuality. Bell, playing Taupin as the voice of reason in the piece, who enjoys all of the success, but manages to stay in control of himself, gives an equally winning, if calmer performance. Right behind them as far as the amount of screen time, but right with them in strong character portrayals, are Stephen Graham as Elton’s demanding and rude first manager Dick James, Richard Madden (yes, Robb Stark) as his elegantly dressed snake of a next manager and lover John Reid, and Bryce Dallas Howard as his truly awful mom.The musical format of the film calls for some razzle dazzle, and that all shines through with some terrific choreography, not only between dancers and actors, but also coming from the constantly moving cameras, and the production and extravagant costume design.

And the script never stops telling the story, a tawdry one of a rapid rise to stardom, the price one must pay to stay there, and the dangers (drink, drugs, unscrupulous people) that could easily end it all. Yet despite his weaknesses, it also shows Elton as a performer who knows that no matter how difficult things get, his always showstopping show must go on.

Some of the best news is that aside from Egerton’s spot-on, bigger-than-life portrayal of Elton, he’s also got some pretty good pipes with which he superbly pulls off the plentiful catchy songs.

Ed Symkus writes about movies for More Content Now. He can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.